---
title: "Jīngdé Tiānshān zhēnxiāng chá"
url: https://thetea.app/article/jingde-tianshan-zhenxiang-cha
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Jīngdé Tiānshān zhēnxiāng chá (旌德天山真香茶)

*Jīngdé Tiānshān zhēnxiāng chá* (旌德天山真香茶) is a green tea of Jingde County (旌德县), Xuancheng prefecture-level city, in the south of Anhui Province; in a descriptive translation, “the true aroma of Tianshan Mountain”. The tea is young: it was developed from 1981 under the name “天山[毛峰](https://thetea.app/article/maofengcha)”, and in 1988, according to the reference book, Professor Chen Chuan (陈椽) named it “天山真香” for its high and long-lasting orchid aroma. The name has been protected by an agricultural product geographical indication since 2016 and by recognition as a geographical indication product since 2025.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Green tea (绿茶, *lǜchá*). The county classes it as green; according to the requirements, the technology is that of green tea (section 5).
* **Category:** Straight, slightly flattened green tea of southern Anhui; geographical indication product.
* **Origin:** China, Anhui Province (安徽, *Ānhuī*), Xuancheng prefecture-level city (宣城, *Xuānchéng*), Jingde County (旌德, *Jīngdé*).
* **Protection zone:** High-mountain gardens at an altitude of 400–700 m in nine towns and townships of the county: Miaoshou, Xinglong, Suncun, Baidi, Sanxi, Caijiaqiao, Yunle, Yucun and Jingyang. The applicant is the Jingde County Crop Production Service Center.
* **Main area:** The sources differ. According to a county report, the core of production is Tianshan Mountain in Xiangyun Village (祥云村) of Miaoshou Town. The local products reference book names Xiakeng Village (狭坑村), but in one place assigns it to Miaoshou Town and in another to Jieshou Town (界首镇), which is not on the zone list. No explanation for the discrepancy is found in the sources consulted.
* **Geographic coordinates:** 30°07′19″–30°29′14″ N, 118°15′39″–118°44′15″ E (boundaries of the protection zone).

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **Since 1981.** According to the reference book, the new tea was developed by the famous tea office under the county agricultural committee. Until 1987 it was called “天山毛峰” (*Tiānshān máofēng*).
    * **1988.** According to the local products reference book, in June the tea took first place at the provincial famous tea competition. In the same year, as the reference book writes, it was “discovered” by Chen Chuan, a professor at Anhui Agricultural University, who named it “天山真香” for an orchid aroma unlike that of Huangshan Maofeng.
    * **Intangible heritage.** The county's personnel portal names the hand technique of making “天山真香” tea among more than ten items of intangible cultural heritage of the provincial and city levels; the year of inscription and the level of this particular item are not stated in the sources consulted.
    * **2 November 2016.** The Ministry of Agriculture of the PRC registered “旌德天山真香茶” as an agricultural product geographical indication. According to the county, this is Jingde's first such product.
    * **2021.** According to a county report, “旌德天山真香” entered the top ten regional public brands of agricultural products and local specialties of Xuancheng prefecture-level city.
    * **2022.** According to a county report, on 21 May an exhibition center of the “旌德天山真香” brand opened — the first Jingde product registered with a geographical indication; the center was created on the initiative of the county tea industry association.
    * **9 June 2025.** The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), by announcement No. 632, recognized it as a geographical indication product.
* **Name:** “*Jīngdé*” (旌德) is the county; “*Tiānshān*” (天山) is the mountain; “*zhēnxiāng*” (真香) means “true aroma”; “*chá*” (茶) means tea.
* **Cultural significance:** The county promotes “天山真香” as its tea brand; the 2024 harvest festival was held at the Wuliqian tea farm (五里千茶场) in Miaoshou Town.

**3. Botanical Description and Raw Material:**

* **Varieties:** The requirements for the geographical indication product name the Huangshan large-leaf variety (黄山大[叶种](https://thetea.app/article/qiaomuguanmu), *Huángshān dàyèzhǒng*), “Baiye No. 1” (白叶1号, *Báiyè yī hào*) and others.
* **Harvest standard:** From a single bud to a bud with two just-unfolding leaves (单芽至一芽二叶初展); the bud and leaves are whole. The fresh leaf is divided into three classes.
* **Raw material by grade:** The local products reference book divides the raw material by tenderness into five levels: buds alone go to the top grade, a bud with one just-unfolding leaf to the first grade, a bud with two such leaves to the second, a bud with two unfolded leaves to the third, and the rest to ordinary green tea. According to the same book, the harvest is carried out between Qingming (清明) and Guyu (谷雨).
* **Method and timing of harvest:** The leaf is snapped off with an upward movement of the hand (提手采). Harvesting begins when about 5% of the shoots have reached the standard.

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Region:** Tianshan, according to the local products reference book and a county report, belongs to the eastern part of the Huangshan Mountains and lies eight kilometers in a straight line from Tiandu Peak (天都峰).
* **Growing altitude:** 400–700 m; slopes steeper than 25° are not used.
* **Climate:** The local products reference book gives a mean annual temperature of 15.5 °C, an average frost-free period of 232.3 days, 1719.5 hours of sunshine and 1490.5 mm of precipitation a year. According to the same book and to tourist descriptions, in clear weather the mountains are in mist, and in the rainy season in clouds.
* **Soils:** According to the requirements — mainly thin gravelly platy soils, yellow-earth platy soils and gravelly yellow-red soils; rich in organic matter and total potassium, pH 5–6; the roots go about 50 cm into the subsoil.
* **Forest and fertilizers:** The local products reference book gives a forest cover of 60–80% (there is more than eight times as much forest as gardens) and more than 150 kg of oilcake fertilizer per mu a year. The requirements prescribe autumn feeding with oilcake and organic matter and a mulch of green manure and straw.
* **Scale:** The local products reference book gives 1,600 ha of gardens and 98 t a year, without a year and without specifying what the area refers to.

**5. Production Technology:**

The requirements for the geographical indication product set the following sequence; both hand and machine processing are allowed:

1.  **Plucking the fresh leaf (采摘, *cǎizhāi*).**
2.  **Withering (摊青, *tānqīng*):** The fresh leaf is spread out to wilt slightly.
3.  **Fixation (杀青, *shāqīng*):** Heat stops oxidation.
4.  **Straightening (理条, *lǐtiáo*):** The leaf is given a straight shape.
5.  **Shaping (做形, *zuòxíng*):** The leaf is given its final shape.
6.  **Drying by baking (烘焙, *hōngbèi*).**

Temperatures, operation times and a description of the hand techniques are not found in the sources consulted.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

According to the requirements for the geographical indication product.

* **Dry leaf appearance:** Straight, slightly flat, the buds large and fleshy, emerald green in color, the white down visible (外形挺直略扁，茶芽肥壮，色泽翠绿，白毫显露).
* **Dry leaf aroma:** No descriptions are found in the sources consulted.
* **Liquor aroma:** Clean and high, with a lasting floral note (香气清高，含有持久的清花香); after four infusions the aroma, according to the requirements, still holds. The reference book calls it an orchid aroma.
* **Taste:** Fresh and brisk, with a sweet return (滋味鲜爽，回味甘甜). The reference book adds “full” (醇厚) and calls the tea able to withstand repeated infusions (耐泡).
* **Liquor color:** According to the requirements — tender green, clear and bright (嫩绿清亮). Reference books and tourist descriptions call it light green (浅绿).
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** Tender green and bright (叶底嫩绿明亮). In the cup the buds stand upright.

**7. Chemical Composition:**

Physico-chemical requirements for the geographical indication product:

| Indicator | Norm |
| :--- | :--- |
| Tea polyphenols | not less than 20% |
| Amino acids | not less than 3.0% |
| Caffeine | not less than 2.5% |
| Water-soluble extractives | not less than 38% |
| Moisture | not more than 6.5% |
| Crude fiber | not more than 10% |
| Total ash | not more than 6.5% |

The local products reference book gives polyphenols of not less than 23%; the CNIPA norm is adopted here.

**8. Health Properties:**

There are no verified data on the effects of this particular tea.

**9. Brewing:**

Class practice for green tea.

* **Water temperature:** 80–85 °C.
* **Tea amount:** 3 g per 150 ml.
* **Teaware:** A glass tumbler or a white gaiwan.
* **Process:**
    1. Warm the teaware.
    2. Add the tea and pour the water down the side.
    3. First infusion — after 40–60 seconds.
    4. Drink, leaving a third of the liquor.
    5. Top up with water.
    6. Two or three repeat infusions.

The local products reference book advises 3 g per glass (1:50), about 85 °C and 2–3 minutes.

**10. Storage:**

Class practice. In airtight opaque packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light, moisture and foreign odors. The floral aroma is the first to fade, so the tea is best drunk within a year.

**11. Price and Counterfeits:**

Price data are not found in the sources consulted.

* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * Look for the special geographical indication mark: the right to it is approved by CNIPA, and the list of authorized users is published.
    * Check that the tea comes from the nine towns and townships of Jingde County.
    * The leaf is straight, slightly flat, with white down; the aroma is floral.
    * Do not confuse it with Tianshan Lü Cha ([天山绿茶](https://thetea.app/article/tianshan-lucha)) from Fujian: the name is similar, the tea is different.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* The tea took first place at the provincial competition in 1988, the year of its new name.
* The product norms require the aroma to hold even after four infusions.
* In 2024 the county harvest festival was held under the slogan “品天山真香” — “taste the true aroma of Tianshan”.

**13. Comparison with Other Anhui Teas:**

* **Huangshan Maofeng ([黄山毛峰](https://thetea.app/article/huangshan-mao-feng)):** A neighbor in the same mountain massif; according to the reference book, what sets *Tiānshān zhēnxiāng* apart from it is a lasting floral aroma.
* **Taiping Houkui ([太平猴魁](https://thetea.app/article/taiping-hou-kui)):** A flat, large-leaf “pointed” green tea of Huangshan prefecture.
* **Jingxian Lanxiang Cha ([泾县兰香茶](https://thetea.app/article/jingxian-lanxiang-cha)):** A green tea of Jing County in the same Xuancheng prefecture-level city; its requirements also name an orchid aroma as its typical feature.
* **Tianshan Lü Cha (天山绿茶):** A Fujian tea of the Ningde area that bears the same mountain name.

**In Conclusion:**

*Jīngdé Tiānshān zhēnxiāng chá* is a young green tea of southern Anhui: a straight, slightly flat leaf with a large bud and white down, a tender green liquor, a fresh taste with a sweet return and a lasting floral aroma, for which it got its name. Its history is short: development from 1981, a new name in 1988, protection from 2016 and 2025.